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Amazon just added AR shopping to their app

Amazon just updated their iOS app today introducing a new feature: AR View. It provides customers with a way to visualize the products in their own space, be it a home, office or outside, before they decide to buy. The company says that when users are buying an item, “they can overlay it onto their existing living space, move it and rotate it to get a full 360-degree peek in a live camera view to make sure it fits their style and aesthetic“.

Amazon’s move lays another brick towards the mass adoption of the Augmented Reality technology, after other big names like Target, Wayfair and IKEA integrated it in their online shopping experience.

Like IKEA’s app, the new AR View feature from Amazon is using the new capabilities offered by Apple in iOS 11 named ARKit. This means you can enjoy shopping in AR only if you have an iPhone 6S or higher and iOS 11 installed.

We were really excited to see the update so we tested the new feature right away. If you want to start seeing your Christmas gifts on your table a couple of months in advance, go to the App Store and download the latest Amazon app. As soon as you open the app, tap the camera icon, next to the search bar. They still have some other interesting features in there, like a product visual search. We like that too. But back to AR, the “AR view” option is easy to spot. As soon as you tap that, you will be led to the items available for AR View, because you can’t see everything from Amazon in Augmented Reality.

You can find a selection of furniture items, electronics, toys, kitchen supplies and decorations. Tap a product and the camera will start, asking you to point it towards a flat surface. ARKit does its job amazingly fast, just as we saw at the Apple WWDC, back in June and you have to tap again on screen, where you want to see your favourite speaker, or chair, or toy. The magic happens, your item appears as if it was part of reality and no matter how you move your phone it does not move.

You can easily adjust the positioning using one finger to move the item on you surface or two fingers to rotate it.

Now that you saw that cool speaker on your desk, you will miss it once you leave your phone down and its gone. At least that’s what Amazon and others are counting on. Seeing the product in your home makes your decision to buy easier and clearer. We see the shopping experience transform rapidly so if you have a business selling items online, you should explore this. You could benefit from an Augmented Reality app, where users can better engage with your products. Drop us a line about your business for a free quote.